The Secret of the Black Bushranger

by Jackie French

  But how had John Black come to England as a slave or not, or ex-slave? Possibly as a sailor — so many sailors died on each voyage back then that many ships’ captains would sign on any able-bodied man as crew, even hiding criminals or runaway slaves till the ship had sailed from port. But the records state that John Black worked as a servant in a farming area when he was charged with theft, not on the docks. He also seems to have known enough about farming to be placed in charge of the garden on what is still called Garden Island.

  If, as the records state, John Black came from Madagascar, Kim’s suggestion that he came to England as loot from a Dutch ship seems to be the most likely scenario.

  So little is known about the man they called John Black — even his true name. The name Black Caesar could have been an ironic, insulting nickname given to him because of his size and bearing. But at the same time as John Black Caesar was robbing farmers in New South Wales, two other ‘Black Caesars’, both pirates, were robbing ships at sea. Like them, the man known as John Black might have decided that if he had to have an English name, it would be a proud one: Caesar.

  John Black must also have arrived in England while still fairly young — no one mentions that his English was poor, or even strongly accented. Given the tribal warfare in Madagascar at the time, with the heads of small kingdoms selling their own people to Dutch slavers to buy guns to fight their enemies, the son of one such king might well have ended up on a Dutch slaver and then, once war between the Netherlands and England had been declared, been captured on a Dutch ship by the English and then taken to England.

  And once in England . . .

  That was a problem because in John Black’s time it wasn’t clear whether a slave taken to England was free or still a slave. Mostly, they were given the benefit of the doubt, though it would be decades before their freedom was legally established, and even longer before the efforts of abolitionists like the Johnsons and William Wilberforce had slavery abolished in all British territories and colonies.

  Even after that, humans were bought and sold. They still are today. In Australia and much of the world, slavery is no longer legal or condoned. But Australia’s history is not slave free. Blackbirding in the plantations of Queensland, when Pacific Islanders were captured and sold even up to the time of Federation, is only part of Australia’s more shameful history of slavery. As late as the 1960s, Indigenous stockmen and servants were still being forced to work for no wages except inadequate rations, or imprisoned on reservations, unable to leave without permission, or have visitors if they were not approved.

  Even today cases appear in our media of migrant workers who have their passports taken from them, and who are kept as virtual prisoners in appalling conditions, told they will be deported if they go to the police, with either token wages or none at all, on the pretext that they must repay their captors what it cost to bring them to Australia — or on no pretext at all. They are slaves, even if they wear no chains. Many of the inexpensive imported goods you and I buy are cheap because they are made by slaves in other countries, or by men, women and even children in semi-slavery, unable to leave the jobs that eventually kill them.

  Are we guilty too?

  Did Richard Johnson Help John Black?

  There is no evidence, nor was it ever suggested at the time, that Richard Johnson helped John Black escape. Except . . . John Black almost certainly did have help, that first night or the second after he left Garden Island in a stolen canoe. Someone must have sheltered him and given him food, for he had little on the island to take with him. Even more noteworthy is that his theft of a musket was at the brickworks, just after he escaped, which was next door to where the Johnsons lived at the time.

  Richard Johnson and his wife, Elizabeth, were also well known as fervent abolitionists. It is likely that John Black would have known this from Richard Johnson’s sermons, which were compulsory for all convicts in the first year of the colony at least, and, possibly, from Richard Johnson’s seeking out of the black convicts in the colony to assure them that God believed each soul was created equal, no matter the colour of the skin. There were at least two dark-skinned convicts on the First Fleet, and many thousands working in London, mostly around the docks but also as servants — it was common at the time to have a black pageboy or footman as part of a fashionable household.

  I do not know if I have reconstructed John Black Caesar’s story correctly. I probably haven’t — too much about him remains a mystery, and much of that evidence tells different stories. Tench and Collins condemn John Black as brutish, little more than an animal. And yet John Black managed to talk his way out of prison sentences, even hanging, and into being given the favoured job of shooter and the farm on Norfolk Island despite repeated crimes while in the colony. He was charismatic enough to attract a gang. I suspect that the colour of his skin — and his refusal to be properly respectful, or show fear of either lash or hangman’s noose — led to the prejudice with which the officers of the time wrote about him. Both writers also mentioned his prodigious need for food, and that too was seen as animalistic, even though a man of that size would have needed to eat far more than officers who did no manual work.

  The three indisputable facts are that he lived, and was our first ‘bushranger’, and that his death was agonising and alone, hunted for the bounty of five gallons of rum. John Black deserves a more thorough memorial than dismissal in the cruel words of men who judged him by the prejudices of their time and class. With Kim’s help, this book is, perhaps, as close as we will come to knowing the man, and his life and tragedy.

  Pemulwuy

  Pemulwuy probably attacked Governor Phillip’s shooter in revenge for the man attacking Indigenous women, but Pemulwuy also remained a strong opponent of colonial invasion. Pemulwuy was eventually shot in 1802 by Henry Hacking, and his corpse was decapitated and his head was pickled and sent back to England.

  The Rum Corps and Governor Hunter

  The New South Wales or ‘Rum’ Corps was as bad as portrayed in this book, and worse. Making their fortunes selling rations at the expense of starving convicts and giving themselves free illegal grants of land was bad enough, but they were also guilty of disregarding both the laws of England and of the new colony as well as the moral laws of the time, while making sure that any legal charges against themselves or their friends were dismissed. Their insults to Mr Johnson and his church were petty as well as vicious, as if the officers hated anything that might remind them of their crimes.

  Governor Hunter’s concern that if he took strong — and legal — action against the criminal officers they would stage an uprising proved sound, as those officers did mutiny against Governor Bligh — the second mutiny that officer had faced (the first was on his ship, the Bounty).

  Hunter, and later governors King and Bligh, were largely powerless against the sheer number of corrupt officers. Hunter was even accused of the same crimes they had committed in a series of anonymous letters, and was recalled to face trial in England. He was acquitted. Order was only really re-established with Governor Macquarie, not just because of Macquarie’s strong organisational abilities, but because by then the officers of the Rum Corps had safely established their fortunes and were engaged in tending them and caring for their estates.

  Although the foundation of the officers’ fortunes was the result of illegal activities, Macquarie, sensibly, did not try to confiscate them. The officers had made themselves rich, but they were also a major part of the colony’s economy and society by then. Some of their efforts to make their fortunes had also helped make the colony ‘at the end of the world’ viable, even prosperous.

  But it was their letters, the ones that books have been based on and our view of that time, and the letters of Elizabeth Macarthur, married to a Rum Corps officer, that made Richard Johnson sound like a dithering bore, instead of a man of perhaps the greatest courage and compassion in the colony. Johnson was not tireless — he seemed to have been frequently exhausted, and he never did fully
recover his health after his time in the colony. Yet his achievements were astounding: the written scheme for founding schools across the colony, which he completed by 1789; his work as a magistrate; the comfort (and food) he gave prisoners and the sick, as well as men due to be hanged; building first his house then his church with his own hands and his own money; the scheme to protect and feed orphans; the school that taught up to five hundred people at a time, as well as conducting church services in Sydney and Rose Hill, now Parramatta, even when the Rum Corps officers forced him to walk both ways, instead of going by boat. He was also known as the best farmer in the colony.

  The Johnsons were missionaries too, to the Indigenous people of the area, but as there seem to be no written records of what this involved, I haven’t included it.

  I admire Elizabeth Macarthur enormously — she, not her husband, is the true founder of our wool industry, breeding hardy Merino sheep with fine wool that brought a high price, and negotiating with agents in England to buy it. She managed farms and a family — and her husband, as his mental state deteriorated till he needed to be physically restrained. But she was not generous to the Johnsons, and had little time for a woman she probably regarded as a dowdy do-gooder, who did not even take the time to properly dress her hair, much less take part in stylish dinners and smart picnics and charming governors and officers.

  Historical Fiction, Historical Fact

  This book contains both — the actions and opinions of real people are as close to the records as I can manage, with those of imaginary characters like Barney and Elsie matching ‘what might have been’. While Mr Johnson’s possible assistance to John Black Caesar is based on deduction, not references from the time, but it would fit the character of the man who wrote the letters and sermons that we have left.

  And Barney’s question still remains, for a man of Richard Johnson’s time, and his Christian convictions: if John Black’s actions were those of a man tortured by the fear and memory of slavery, should a man like Richard Johnson have helped him, even though doing so broke the law? Or should he have turned his back on a man seeking sanctuary, and called the convict Watch to chain him?

  About the Author

  JACKIE FRENCH AM is an award-winning writer, wombat negotiator, the 2014–2015 Australian Children’s Laureate and the 2015 Senior Australian of the Year. She is regarded as one of Australia’s most popular children’s authors and writes across all genres — from picture books, history, fantasy, ecology and sci-fi to her much loved historical fiction. ‘Share a Story’ was the primary philosophy behind Jackie’s two-year term as Laureate.

  jackiefrench.com.au

  facebook.com/authorjackiefrench

  Also by Jackie French

  Australian Historical

  Somewhere Around the Corner • Dancing with Ben Hall

  Daughter of the Regiment • Soldier on the Hill • Valley of Gold

  Tom Appleby, Convict Boy • A Rose for the Anzac Boys

  The Night They Stormed Eureka • Nanberry: Black Brother White

  Pennies for Hitler

  General Historical

  Hitler’s Daughter • Lady Dance • How the Finnegans Saved the Ship

  The White Ship • They Came on Viking Ships

  Macbeth and Son • Pharaoh • Oracle

  I am Juliet • Ophelia: Queen of Denmark

  The Diary of William Shakespeare, Gentleman

  Fiction

  Rain Stones • Walking the Boundaries • The Secret Beach

  Summerland • A Wombat Named Bosco • Beyond the Boundaries

  The Warrior: The Story of a Wombat

  The Book of Unicorns • Tajore Arkle

  Missing You, Love Sara • Dark Wind Blowing

  Ride the Wild Wind: The Golden Pony and Other Stories

  Refuge • The Book of Horses and Unicorns

  Non-Fiction

  A Year in the Valley • How the Aliens from Alpha Centauri

  Invaded My Maths Class and Turned Me into a Writer

  How to Guzzle Your Garden • The Book of Challenges

  The Fascinating History of Your Lunch

  To the Moon and Back • The Secret World of Wombats

  How High Can a Kangaroo Hop?

  Let the Land Speak: How the Land Created Our Nation

  I Spy a Great Reader

  The Animal Stars Series

  The Goat Who Sailed the World • The Dog Who Loved a Queen

  The Camel Who Crossed Australia

  The Donkey Who Carried the Wounded

  The Horse Who Bit a Bushranger

  Dingo: The Dog Who Conquered a Continent

  The Matilda Saga

  1. A Waltz for Matilda • 2. The Girl from Snowy River

  3. The Road to Gundagai • 4. To Love a Sunburnt Country

  5. The Ghost by the Billabong • 6. If Blood Should Stain the Wattle

  The Secret Histories Series

  Birrung the Secret Friend • Barney and the Secret of the Whales

  Outlands Trilogy

  In the Blood • Blood Moon • Flesh and Blood

  School for Heroes Series

  Lessons for a Werewolf Warrior • Dance of the Deadly Dinosaurs

  Wacky Families Series

  1. My Dog the Dinosaur • 2. My Mum the Pirate

  3. My Dad the Dragon • 4. My Uncle Gus the Garden Gnome

  5. My Uncle Wal the Werewolf • 6. My Gran the Gorilla

  7. My Auntie Chook the Vampire Chicken • 8. My Pa the Polar Bear

  Phredde Series

  1. A Phaery Named Phredde

  2. Phredde and a Frog Named Bruce

  3. Phredde and the Zombie Librarian

  4. Phredde and the Temple of Gloom

  5. Phredde and the Leopard-Skin Librarian

  6. Phredde and the Purple Pyramid

  7. Phredde and the Vampire Footy Team

  8. Phredde and the Ghostly Underpants

  Picture Books

  Diary of a Wombat (with Bruce Whatley)

  Pete the Sheep (with Bruce Whatley)

  Josephine Wants to Dance (with Bruce Whatley)

  The Shaggy Gully Times (with Bruce Whatley)

  Emily and the Big Bad Bunyip (with Bruce Whatley)

  Baby Wombat’s Week (with Bruce Whatley)

  The Tomorrow Book (with Sue deGennaro)

  Queen Victoria’s Underpants (with Bruce Whatley)

  Christmas Wombat (with Bruce Whatley)

  A Day to Remember (with Mark Wilson)

  Queen Victoria’s Christmas (with Bruce Whatley)

  Dinosaurs Love Cheese (with Nina Rycroft)

  Wombat Goes to School (with Bruce Whatley)

  The Hairy-Nosed Wombats Find a New Home (with Sue deGennaro)

  Good Dog Hank (with Nina Rycroft)

  The Beach They Called Gallipoli (with Bruce Whatley)

  Wombat Wins (with Bruce Whatley)

  Grandma Wombat (with Bruce Whatley)

  Millie Loves Ants (with Sue deGennaro)

  Also available . . .

  Barney Bean has secrets; so secret they have not been spoken about for over two hundred years. What is his secret about Birrung, the Indigenous girl who was adopted by the colony’s first clergyman, Richard Johnson?

  This first book in The Secret Histories series is based on the true and extraordinary story of Birrung and the Johnsons.

  ‘Birrung brings to life a time and place so strongly you can almost taste it’

  Books + Publishing, 4 stars

  Buy Now!

  Also available . . .

  The year is 1791 and Barney Bean is keen to make his fortune. He hears a secret; a sailor’s secret about the treasure of the colony.

  But how can chasing whales make you rich? Is adventure at sea worth leaving everything he loves?

  This second book in The Secret Histories series explores how the early colony survived with the wealth from whaling, a little-known secret from Australia’s past.

  Buy Now!

  Copyr
ight

  Angus&Robertson

  An imprint of HarperCollinsChildren’sBooks, Australia

  First published in Australia in 2017

  by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited

  ABN 36 009 913 517

  harpercollins.com.au

  Text copyright © Jackie French 2017

  Illustrations copyright © Mark Wilson 2017

  The rights of Jackie French and Mark Wilson to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work have been asserted by them under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.

  This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  HarperCollinsPublishers

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  National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

  French, Jackie, author.

  The secret of the black bushranger / Jackie French; illustrated by Mark Wilson.

  ISBN: 978 0 7322 9945 3 (paperback)

  ISBN: 978 1 4607 0323 6 (ebook)

  Secret histories; 3.

  For primary school age.

  Bushrangers—New South Wales—Juvenile fiction.